Related Content

The team were testing out the "mate copying" theory – also known as "The Wedding Ring Effect" – a phenomenon that is seen in the animal kingdom, whereby someone is considered more appealing as a prospective mate when they are desired by others or already coupled up.

In the study, published this week in the journal Scientific Reports, the team gave 49 women photos of men's faces and hands.

The volunteers were then asked to rate the attractiveness of each picture, before being given "social information" about how the other women in the study had rated the men.

Interestingly, when the participants then rated the photos for a second time after finding out what the other women had said, the men were considered to be 13% more attractive on average.

"Women appear to copy the mate preferences of other women but this might simply be because humans have a general tendency to be influenced by the opinions of others," concluded research leader Dr. Kate Cross.